By Bill Quigley
and Laura Raymond.Bill and Laura work at the Center for
Constitutional Rights.

Another false ending to the Iraq war is being declared.Nearly seven years after George Bush's
infamous "Mission Accomplished" speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln, President
Obama has just given a major address to mark the withdrawal of all but 50,000 combat
troops from Iraq.But, while thousands
of US troops are marching out, thousands of additional private military
contractors (PMCs) are marching in.The
number of armed security contractors in Iraq will more than double in the
coming months.

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While the mainstream media is debating whether Iraq can be
declared a victory or not there is virtually no discussion regarding this surge
in contractors. Meanwhile, serious questions about the accountability of
private military contractors remain.

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In the past decade the United States has dramatically
shifted the way in which it wages war fewer soldiers and more contractors.

Last month, the Congressional Research Service reported that
the Department of Defense (DoD) workforce has 19% more contractors (207,600)
than uniformed personnel (175,000) in Iraq
and Afghanistan, making the
wars in these two countries the most outsourced and privatized in U.S.
history.

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According to a recent State Department briefing to
Congress's Commission on Wartime Contracting, from now on, instead of soldiers,
private military contractors will be disposing of improvised explosive devices,
recovering killed and wounded personnel, downed aircraft and damaged vehicles,
policing Baghdad's
International Zone, providing convoy security, and clearing travel routes,
among other security-related duties.